Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Short Interest Update

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 4,649,830 shares, an increase of 29.3% from the January 29th total of 3,595,465 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,722,452 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days. Based on an average daily volume of 1,722,452 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elevance Health

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 116.4% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its holdings in Elevance Health by 17.3% during the second quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 3,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 6.4% in the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,506,000 after purchasing an additional 853 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 2.2% in the second quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 3,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,276,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, South Dakota Investment Council raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 64.9% during the 2nd quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 43,053 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,746,000 after purchasing an additional 16,939 shares during the period. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ELV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $404.00 to $393.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Elevance Health from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $358.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Elevance Health from $400.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Elevance Health from $297.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $390.55.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Shares of ELV stock opened at $293.99 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $349.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $335.98. Elevance Health has a 52 week low of $273.71 and a 52 week high of $458.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.89 billion, a PE ratio of 11.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.51.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $49.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.52 billion. Elevance Health had a net margin of 2.84% and a return on equity of 15.59%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.84 earnings per share. Elevance Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 25.500- EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Elevance Health will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $1.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.71. This represents a $6.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is 27.23%.

Elevance Health Company Profile

Elevance Health, Inc (NYSE: ELV) is a large U.S.-based health benefits company that provides a broad range of health insurance products and related services. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the company rebranded from Anthem, Inc to Elevance Health in 2022 while continuing to operate consumer-facing health plans under established state and national brands. Gail Boudreaux serves as chief executive officer and president, leading the company’s strategic focus on integrated health care and benefit delivery.

Elevance’s core activities include offering medical and specialty health plans for individuals, employers and government programs, including Medicare and Medicaid managed-care products.